Advertising at doctor’s offices, pharmacies can be valuable for both patients and doctors

The trend: Patients like receiving information about medications and treatments at the point of care, such as in the doctor’s office or at the pharmacy, according to research from Phreesia.

Examples of point-of-care content can include:

• Educational materials on health services, conditions, and treatments that are delivered via brochures, digital screens, posters, or wall-mounted TVs in waiting rooms.
• These materials are created by healthcare and pharma companies looking to raise awareness of their products or services.

Digging into the data: Patients who view health content at points of care, like when they’re checking in to an appointment or filling a prescription, find the information beneficial, per a Phreesia survey of 9,200 patients.

• 92% said the content helped them ask the right questions to their physician.
• 91% said it provided them with general support on how to become more active in their care.
• 90% find value in point-of-care information on specific health problems they might be at risk for, and how to lower that risk.

Many patients also take action after engaging with point-of-care healthcare information, according to a separate Phreesia survey of 3,500+ patients.

• 23% who viewed content about medications at the point of care asked their doctor about those treatments.
• That compares with just 11% who asked their doctor about a medication they saw on a TV ad outside the medical clinic. This could be due to the time gap between a person seeing a TV ad and their next conversation with a physician.
• About two-thirds of patients who saw condition-specific messaging just before their appointments said they were likely to discuss the condition with their doctor.

The final word for marketers: Point-of-care advertising can help healthcare and pharma brands reach patients in settings where they’re actively thinking about their health.

Point-of-care advertising can be tailored to healthcare providers, too. Doctors might need to learn more about a particular treatment their patient is on. This is an opportunity for the pharma company to display brand messaging on educational materials it creates for providers and patients.

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